There is speculation that Sen. Paul Kirk (above) will losehis vote in the Senate after the special election AP
By POLITICO STAFF | 01/18/10 9:06 AM
POLITICO Pulse reports on the possible legal fallout from Tuesday's special election in Massachusetts:
A victory by Republican Scott Brown tomorrow in Massachusetts could quickly turn into a legal battle over the man he would replace -- with the future of health reform in the Senate hanging in the balance. The Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes is arguing that Sen. Paul Kirk will lose his vote in the Senate after the special election, no matter who wins, signaling a possible GOP line of attack against health reform if it passes with Kirk's vote. GOP elected officials haven't embraced that argument, and two academic election law experts contacted by POLITICO rebutted the notion that Kirk will no longer be a senator after the election.
But it's a sign of the fierce legal and political battles likely to ensue if Brown upsets Democrat Martha Coakley in the race to fill the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. And Kirk would be in the middle of it all. Brown would take over for Kirk, a supporter of reform, and become the 41st vote against the health bill - ending the Democrats' filibuster-proof majority and throwing reform's future into serious doubt. Republicans are worried that if Brown wins, Democrats will try to jam through a Senate health reform vote while Kirk still occupies the seat, in the time between Brown's election and when he is certified the winner. Kirk has pledged to vote for reform for as long as he remains a senator, even if Brown wins.
